Shoe creeper



Jan. 12, 1960 A. L'ETOILEI 2,920,403

SHOE CREEPER' Filed 001;. 21, 1958 [n vanfor'f 2,92%AQ3 Patented Jan. 12, 1960 United States Patent Ofiice SHOE CREEPER Auguste LEtoile, St.-Jean, Quebec, Canada Application October 21, 1958. Serial No. 768,738 1 Claim. or. 36-61) This is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 685,713, filed on September 23, 1957, and now abandoned.

The present invention relates to improvements in ice creeper.

The main object of the present invention resides in the provision of an ice creeper which is arranged for pivotal movement between an active ground engaging position and an inactive retracted position and which is yet entirely noiseless in use due to the improved manner in which the pivoted part is mounted on the support thereof.

Yet another important object of the present invention resides in the provision of an ice creeper which is of a durable and inexpensive construction and which can be readily attached to a shoe or overshoe.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a creeper of the character described in which the spur plate can be moved from one position to the other by a simple folding movement without the use of ones hand.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invenion will become more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the under side of an overshoe provided with the creeper of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the spur plate which forms one element of the creeper;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the overshoe provided with the creeper in active position;

Figure 4 is a partial side elevation of the overshoe and of the creeper shown in active position;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the creeper in folded inactive position;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the creeper shown in active position; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the creeper attached to a ladys overshoe.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like elements throughout, the creeper of the present invention comprises a base portion 16 and a spur plate 11. The base or support portion 10 is made of spring steel or other metallic resilient material, while the spur plate 11 is made of rigid steel or the like hard and long wearing material.

The support plate 10 is die cut to provide two arms 12 interconnected by a middle portion 13 and having generally the form of a U. The free ends of the arms 12 are provided with inwardly and oppositely directed extensions 14 at the free ends of which are disposed upstanding ears 15. The ears 15 are arranged in spaced substantially parallel relationship and make an angle with the plane containing the arms 12, middle portion 13 and extensions 14. Each ear 15 has a circular hole 15 therein serving as a bearing opening for the spur plate 11 The ears 15 are normally inclined with respect to each other when left in a free state but can be bent back to a parallel position due to the fact that the whole base support 10 is made of a resilient material such as spring steel.

A tongue 16 is integral with and extends from the middle portion 13 and is bent to normally take a positioninclined with respect to the plane of the base support such that its free end will extend above the free ends of the cars 15.

The spur plate 11 is cut out from rigid steel to provide bent ground engaging teeth or spurs 17 and a tail section 18 having parallel sides 19 from each of which projects a lateral journal lug 20 for engagement with the bearing openings 15' made in theears 15 of the base support.

The width of the lugs 20 is such as to engage without any free play the bearing opening 15 While the lateral shoulders 21 formed between the tail section 18 and the main body of the spur plate 11 are adapted to slide over the circular edge of the ears 15 of the ice creeper. The resiliency of the ears 15 is such as that said ears are frictionally applied against the sides 19 of the spur plate 11; thus lateral displacement of the spur plate 11 with respect to the base support 10 is entirely eliminated and no lateral free play exist between the two parts. Similarly there is no longitudinal free play between the spur plate and base support due to the engagement of both the lugs 20 within the bearing openings 15' and of the shoulders 21 with the circular edges of the ears 15.

The tongue 16 of the base support engages either one of the flat faces of the tail section 18 of the spur plate so as to maintain said spur plate either in active position with its spurs directed away from the surface of the overshoe or shoe to which the ice creeper is attached or in an inactive position with the spurs 17 directed towards the underface of the overshoe as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5.

The base support 10 is secured to a shoe or overshoe by means of nails or the like 22 passing through holes made therein.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the ice creeper of the present invention will remain noiseless in use even after a long period of wear due to the fact that the cars 15 are resilient and resiliently engage the sides 19 of the spur plate and due to the presence of the shoulders 21 engaging the circular edges of the ears 15 and also due to the presence of the tongue 16 constantly engaging either faces of the tail section of the spur plate.

The particular construction of the spurs 17 can be varied; for instance, they can consist of three sharp points as shown in Figure 3 or of a middle blunted spur and two lateral sharp points as shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Similarly the specific shape of the base support can also be modified being generally half circular in the em bodiment of Figure 3 and triangular in shape in the embodiment of Figure 6. The device can be secured in any convenient position onto the sole of a shoe or overshoe. However the base support 10 is preferably secured to the shank part that is the part of the sole immediately preceding or forwardly of the heel H and which is recessed with respect to said heel H. Thus when the spur plate is in folded position, the device will not extend beyond the plane joining the front part of the sole and the heel section so has not to touch the ground when the creeper is in inactive position.

The creeper can be attached so that the spur plate 11 will lie on the heel H as shown in full lines in Figures 1 to 6 or lie on the front part of the sole as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1 depending upon the desire of the wearer.

The device is also adapted to be used in conjunction with a ladys shoe or overshoe as clearly shown in Figure a 7 wherein the tail section 18 is suitably bent at substantially right angle while the base support 10 is secured to the front face of the heel H. In the active position, the spur plate 11 lies over the ground engaging face of the heel H.

While preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention have been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A foldable ice creeper comprising a base support and a spur plate pivotally mounted on said support, said support consisting of resilient material providing two lateral arms having inwardly extending and oppositely directed extensions, each extension having an upstanding ear, said ears facing each other and being normally inclined toward each other, a central tongue of resilient material integrally connected to said base support and extending between said two ears, said spur plate having a tail section made of fiat stock engaged by said resilient tongue and .4 having parallel side edges provided with laterally extending lugs engaging within holes made in said ears, the opposite fiat faces of said ears being in slidable resilient engagement with said parallel side edges of the tail sec- 5 tion of said spur plate whereby free play in the pivotable connection of said spur plate to said base support is entirely eliminated.

References Cited in the file of this patent 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS 139,506 Heulings June 3, 1873 362,188 skinner May 3, 1887 637,221 Feher Nov. 14, 1899 652,488 Rush June 26, 1900 15 749,342 Toscan et al. Jan. 12, 1904 776,874 Toscan Dec. 6, 1904 877,929 Johnson Feb. 4, 1908 FOREIGN PATENTS 20 70,141 Norway Mar. 4, 1946 258,000 Switzerland Apr. 16, 1949 

